Why is it that even amidst affluence and power, our culture is plagued by a variety of addictions? In this pioneering work, Bruce Wilshire searches for answers by giving serious attention to our genetic legacy from our hunter-gatherer ancestors as well as to the unique ways we adapt to our environment through the practice of science and the creation of art and cities. The work considers remedies for specific addictions―including drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and gambling―suggesting that wilderness exploration, in the arts, myths, and ceremonies, can help us rediscover what it means to be human creatures. Bringing together the insights of philosophy, religion, cultural anthropology, behavioral biology, and the vast socio-medical literature on addiction, Wilshire ingeniously explores the limits of our adaptive capacity and the costs of depleting the natural regenerative functions of the body.
Editorial Reviews
Review
This book is absolutely on the cutting edge―even ahead of its time. It brings us an entirely new way of understanding addiction, one of the major curses of industrial society in the late twentieth century. After Wild Hunger, it will be very difficult to think of addiction as a purely medical-neurological problem. — David Ehrenfeld, Rutgers University
Footnotes provide interesting information and lead the reader to the other source. — D.L. Loers, Willamette University ―
CHOICE, January 1999, Vol. 36 N0.5
Literate and spiritually refreshing. — Barbara Fulton ―
The Journal Of Addiction and Mental Health
The book is an interesting indicator of current trends in fin-de-siecle America. — Robin Room, National Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research, Oslo, Norway ―
Addiction
An impassioned plea for rediscovering our primal need for ecstatic involvement in the world. . . will speak to a wide audience. ―
Publishers Weekly
Wilshire gives insight into the nature of the pseudo-ecstasy of addiction…and how a new awakening can come about. — Thomas Berry, Author of The Dream of the Earth
Carries the analysis of addiction to new heights and depths. We are immersed in the ultimate question of what we once called ‘salvation.’ — John Cobb, Jr., author of For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy toward Community, the Environment, and a Sustainable Future.
Quite unlike any other work I know on addiction, culture, or spirit, this text becomes a living site of recognition and regeneration, an eco-textual therapeutic you immediately begin to practice and share. — Catherine Keller, Drew University
Startling! Writing with passion and honesty, Wilshire shows that in addiction we participate in degenerative vicious circles that substitute for the regenerative cycles of nature. ―
Parabola
[Wilshire]’s approac is intuitive and imaginative, mixing medical and scientific research with the insights of Thoreau, James, Dewey, Muir, ad St. Paul, and he is most persuasive when describing the alienating disaffections of dualism, patriarchy, and a scientism whhich places inordinate faith in technology. — Patrick T. McCormick, Gonzaga University, Spokane ―
Theological Studies
A worthwhile contribution to the study of addiction, which rarely receives such sustained, serious reflection by professional philosophers. . . . Wilshire makes a significant contribution not only to the study of addiction but also to the remedying of the ever-widening cultural-societal situation in which modern addictions proliferate. — Francis F. Seeburger, University of Denver ―
Journal of the American Academy of Religion
Wild Hunger is an incredibly rich book. . . . This is a book that is sure to interest philosophers, especially American philosophers and phenomenologists, but also medical doctors, anthropologists, feminists, psychologists, addiction counselors, addicts, relatives of addicts, and, more generally, anyone who is concerned with the ominous signs that our present way of inhabiting the world is interfering with our opportunity to realize our most primal needs. — Michael Sullivan, Emory University ―
Journal of Speculative Philosophy
From the Author
What follows are readers’ remarks and reviews of Wild Hunger “This book is absolutely on the cutting edge–even ahead of its time. It brings us an entirely new way of understanding addiction…After Wild Hunger it will be very difficult to think of addiction as a purely medical-neuorological problem.” –David Ehrenfeld author of “The Arrogance of Humanism” and “Beginning Again.”
“Wilshire’s conviction that addiction stems from ecstasy deprivation and an inability to access regenerative sources inherent in Nature is compelling, and many readers will identify with the feelings of emptiness and loneliness he blames on our dualistic culture, which…fosters fragmented identities and prevents a holistic approach to life.” –Publishers Weekly, June, 1998
“Bruce Wilshire carries the analysis of addiction to new heights and depths, showing its roots in our alienation from our body-selves and from the Nature of which [we] are a part.” –John Cobb, co-author of “For the Common Good.”
“Bruce Wilshire gives insight into the addictions that bring pseudo-ecstasy…I have not seen such competence in dealing with such a diversity of areas of concern. The subject has implications for every phase of the human endeavor.” –Thomas Berry, author of “The Dream of the Earth”
“Quite unlike any other work I know on addiction, culture, or spirit, the text becomes a living site of recognition…It is as though a wild zone opens up between words where our irrepressible need for earth-bound ecstasy, for a Wilshirian ‘sensuous solidarity with all animals’ and a ‘consensual solidarity with other humans’ can read itself toward realization.” –Catherine Keller, author of “Apocalypse Now and Then: A Feminist Guide to the End of the World” and “From a Broken Web: Separation, Sexism, and Self.”
About the Author
Bruce W. Wilshire is professor of philosophy at Rutgers University. He is the author of numerous books, including Role Playing and Identity.
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